Electric railway.



PATENTED APR. 25, 1905.

L. W. PULLBN. ELECTRIC RAILWAY. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 1a, 1904.

UNTTED STATES Patented April 25, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

I/VIRELESS RAILWVAY COMPANY,

TRICT OF GOLUM BIA.

A CORPORATION OF THE DIS- ELEOTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,280, dated April 25, 1905.

Application filed July 18,1904. Serial No. 216,984.

To a, whom 21/; may concern:

Be it known that I, LEON W. PULLEN, of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to electric railways; and it consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a construction of circuit closing switches adapted to be arranged along the railway for supplying current from a supply-conductor to the car during its travel on the railway, which shall be simple in construction, positive in action, and embodying durable characteristics.

My invention comprehends a suitable box or case containing on the upper part a contact adapted to form anelectrical connection with the current-collector on the traveling car, two contact-pieces within the box and shielded thereby, and a tubular armature normall y out of contact with said contact-pieces, but adapted to be raised by a magnet on the car to close the circuit between the contactpieces, and thereby form an electrical connection between a supply-con :luctor and the contact-block on the top of the case or box, the said supply-conductor being electrically connected with one of the contact-pieces and the contactblock being electrically connected with the other of said contact-pieces.

My invention also includes details of construction which, together with the abovespecified'features, will be better understood by reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of an electric railway adapted to the employment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line 2 2 of Fig. 3, showing my improved circuit-closing switch. Fig. 3 is a plan view of same; and

Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the upper part of the case, showing the operative parts of my improved circuit-closing switch.

In Fig. 1, A represents the rails, B the contact and switch boxes arranged at intervals along the railway, and C is the supply-conductor.

D is the lower box structure, and E is the cover or cap thereof. Secured to the top of the cap is the contact-block F, which is preferably circular in plan and slightly curved from the top toward the. periphery and is secured in position by means of a screw f, extending through the cover or cap, as shown. This contact-block is preferably made of manganese steel, which has great durability and resistance to wear and is also non-magnetic.

G H are two contact-pieces formed of metal and are set into a recess in the under side of the cover or cap, being held therein by means of screws passing through said lugs O. These two contact-pieces are separated a short distance andtheir opposing edges are beveled to form, in effect, a V opening from the bottom. These surfaces may be faced with copper, as at I, to make a better electrical connection with the tubular magnetic armature J, which latter is also preferably covered with copper, as at K. The armature is very light and is held in a suspended position below the contact-surfaces by means of a transverse bar L, secured at each end by screws N to the cap or cover. In my preferred form I place this transverse bar L slightly nearer to one of the contact-surfaces I than to the other, so that when the tubular armature is allowed to fall away from the contact surfaces one side strikes the transverse bar before the other, so

that in the settling of the armature it receives a slight rotation. In this manner the armature is constantly shifting, and thereby presenting new surfaces to the contacts G H with each operation. From this it will be seen that the armature is caused to wear uniformly throughout its entire circumference and is therefore more durable with a given lightness than it would otherwise be if the same place of contact always came into play.

One of the contact-pieces, H, is electrically connected with the contact-block F by means of the flexible wire P, and the other of said contact pieces, G, is connected by a copper strip M with a conductor leading to the supply-conductor C, said copper strip extending through the case or box at the juncture of the lower body or box and the cap or cover. The cap or cover is held in place by suitable screws 0. The case may be of wood properly saturated with an insulating material, such as asphaltum or shellac or any other insulating substance. The case may be made of any other material so long as the contact parts are properly insulated. It is also evident that while I have shown the contact-block as 86-,

cured to the top of the cover it is immaterial that it should be directly secured thereto, as its position in the railway may be considerably varied; but the circuit-closing switch comprising the parts G H J must be so located along the railway that magnets upon the car will in.

passing operate to draw up the armature and close the circuit through the contact-pieces G H, substantially as set out in Letters Patent No. 74C9,4OI, granted to me on January 12, 1904.

The details of construction may be modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric railway, a circuit-closingswitch box consisting of the combination of contact-block for supplying current to the collector of the car, two contact-pieces one of which is electrically connected with the contact-block and the other with a source of electric energy and said contact-pieces having opposing faces slightly separated, a tubular armature of magnetic material adapted to be raised and form an electrical connection between the two contact-pieces, and a transverse support upon which the tubular armature is loosely hung.

2. In an electric railway, a circuit-closingswitch box consisting of the combination of contact-block for supplying current to the collector of the car, two contact-pieces one of which is electrically connected with the contact-block and the other with a source of electric energy and said contact-pieces having opposing faces slightly separated and located nearer one of the contact-pieces than the other so that when the armature falls it is given a slight rotary motion, a tubular armature of magnetic material adapted to be raised and form an electrical connection between the two contact-pieces, and a transverse support upon which the tubular armature is loosely hung.

3. In an electric railway, a circuit-closingswit'ch box consisting of the combination of contact-block for supplying current to the collector of the car, two contact-pieces one of which is electrically connected with the contact-block and the other with a source of electric energy and said contact-pieces having opposing faces slightly separated and having inclined surfaces covered with copper and constituting a V-opening, a tubular armature of magnetic material adapted to be raised and form an electrical connection between the two contact-pieces and having its circumference coated with copper, and a transverse support upon which the tubular armature is loosely hung.

4:. In a circuit-closing-switch box for an electric railway, the combination of a case, two contact-pieces arranged within the case and slightly separated so as to form a longitudinal slit between them and two opposing contactsurfaces, a tubular armature of magnetic material adapted to rise and fall to close the circuit between the contact-pieces, and a transverse support extending into both ends of the tubular armature to hold it loosely in position below the contact parts and permit it to rise sufficiently to close the circuit between the contact-pieces.

5. In acircuit-closing-switch box for an electric railway, the combination of a case, two contact-pieces arranged within the case and slightly separated so as to form a longitudinal slit between them and two opposing contactsurfaces, a tubular armature of magnetic material adapted to rise and fall to close the circuit between the contact-pieces, and a transverse support extending into both ends of the tubular armature to hold it loosely in position below the contact parts and permit it to rise sufficiently to close the circuit between the contact-pieces an d said support being arranged nearer the one of the contact-surfaces than to the other so as to cause a slight rotation to the armature when it falls.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

LEON W. PULLEY. Vitnesses:

R. M. KELLY, \NM. ROONEY. 

